Well in front of the trigger. Do some googling on the topic and educate yourself before you expose your ignorance.
One of the reasons is simply that a bolt action
- Handles the cartridge more gently than any automated feed mechanism can, thus helping to minimize these imperfections.
- Also can be machined to a greater precision of seal and fit than any automated mechanism.
This inevitably leads to a greater achievable accuracy.
I’ve had some experience with firearms, and I can tell you that at least 95% of all accidental discharges are purely due to user error. Don’t snap at posters for applying Occam’s Razor.
How’s your hearing now?
5% of all the accidental does not fit the Fire on Safety Release, Fire on Bolt Open, Fire on Bolt Close, Jar Off that has been going on for 71 years with Remington Bolt Action Rifles.
Yes there are Negligent discharges and Believe me, 90% or more of those that have had unexpected discharge wondered what in the Hell they did wrong! And even when Remington knew of the issues with the Walker Trigger they would blame the victim!
That is Also Google-able.
Mr. Duality,
Back in 1968 and up to just a couple years ago one would have to put the safety selector onto fire to unlock the bolt to then unload the rifle, and there are many other rifles that were the same way.
Jack Belk recommends that Rifles with this “Bolt Lock” feature should be taken in to a gun smith and have that feature removed. Yes many many gun owners have the ability to do this and have.
And as for your unloading the rifle by cycling the action is a standard way of doing so.
Many Many Bolt Action Rifles Do Not have a hinged trap door on the internal Box Magazine so one X one cycling is common.
I teach Firearms Safety and have read Unsafe by Design and bought a copy for another Firearms Safety Group and shared my book with others.
Jack has published a technique that I have worked with and it works very well with a Bolt action rifle like the Rem 700, Ruger 77 and like,
He calls it the Hunters Safety where the bolt is lifted to the 1st DETENT and this is also used with the safety as long as there bolt lock is removed. By lifting the bolt the firing pin spring is relaxed and therefore locked from advancing forward by any action except closing the bolt. Its a Redundant Safety.
Me & fire arms & stuff:
I’m 75 and have been handling weapons and been around them for as long as I can remember.
I have never unloaded any weapon with it pointed in any direction but down, or for handguns sometimes into a discharge chamber and funny, those always have a downward slant on the ones I have used & seen.
I have done some stupid stuff when under the age of 12 with fire arms and it cost me dearly when my Dad would ground me from the fire arm that I messed up with. BB guns, pellet rifles, bow & arrows etc…
It is like being a pilot, some mistakes you only make once. I have more than 10,000 hours & I have gone to many funerals, just never my own.
I also did a lot of solo sailing on boats less than 28 feet long and the sea will punish a stupid mistake or a moments lack of thought most severely.
I have been educated. I also do not unload a rifle or any weapon with the barrel in an horizontal position ever.
YMMV
I would bet and give you long odds that this statistic does not apply to the Remington 700. Did you even bother to research the well-known problems with the Remington 700 design?
As a former Marine I too have had some experience with firearms.
I’ll make it easy for you:
https://www.bing.com/search?q=how+many+lawsuits+Remington+700&pc=MOZI&form=MOZSBR
I was reading the Wikipedia page on the Remington 700 and was amused at the mention of the “United States Army Joint Munitions and Lethality Contracting Center”.
In any case, when it comes to game play instead of real life, I agree it’s more an issue of balance. Even in a fantastical setting like Borderlands, the manufacturer that only makes single-shot or dual-shot weapons results in a rifle or shotgun that hits extremely hard but is impossible to use in a firefight. So, if you’re really interested in sniping, you get a Jakobs and hit from max distance (ideally while also playing the sniper character). You have to give players a reason to use those sorts of weapons in-game instead of just assault rifles or submachine guns.
Got a high-frequency hearing loss in my right ear but that may be hereditary.
I feel the need to mention that I was about 15 at the time of the incident described above and had NO training or instruction, not even from dear ol’ Dad. I already admitted to acting stupidly. Don’t think I bear more than half the responsibility though.
We all make mistakes, we all eff up, but a reader might forget that when reading some dopers who post quick accusations. The point has been well made, and we can move on.
Semper Fi, Mr. Duality.
I’m reminded of the time I was rifle qual’ing in the Marines and I was a young private and we were on the 200 yard line, rapid fire, sitting. We commenced firing and right then I realized I hadn’t put my ear plugs in. Being a young private and not wanting to advertise that I’d effed up, I shot out my 2 magazines of 10 (IIRC). Back in the M16A2 days.
My ears were ringing from that, for sure. Stupid eff up that I never repeated.
And then later, much later near the end of my time in, I’m a Gunny and taking my unit through qualifications, rifle and pistol. We’re on the pistol range and one of my shooters, a Staff Sergeant who was not the sharpest knife in the drawer, his M9 jammed. Sure enough he brings the pistol up to his face, sideways, to look at what happened. And this points the pistol to the shooters to his left. I was only about 15 feet away and did not want to yell out, for fear of startling him. I was to his left and I closed that distance in about half a heartbeat, reached out and simultaneously pushed and secured the M9’s upper slide with my left hand, behind the muzzle. He did not and could not see me approaching. His finger was on the trigger, but as soon as I touched his weapon its muzzle was turning downrange.
I’ve related this story before and have been raked over the coals by some dopers who say it’s stupid to grab a weapon from a shooter, and as a general rule that is probably true, but in this instance with about 1-2 seconds to decide how to act, that is what I chose to do and it was the right call.
He effed up, for sure, and we had a quick and quiet conversation about it right then and there, while the other shooters were firing. It was over in a few seconds and we quickly cleared his jam.
Yeah, we all eff up. Let’s share them in order to learn from them, and let’s try to not be holier-than-thou. (Lord knows this applies to me too).
I’ve learned a lot from this thread, thanks to all for sharing here.
I qualified with an M14. Hey, I’ll never forget handling an M16 manufactured by GM. Never fired it but the mechanism felt really sloppy.